The Answer is No
by Flash Foreward
Summary: Vlad and Jonno prepare for a date and muse on what their fathers might say if they knew about the relationship.


**The Answer is 'No'**

_Hey, Dad, what would you say if I told you I was dating a Slayer's son?_ The thought popped into Vlad's mind unbidden as he yet again adjusted his shirt in the mirror. But he pushed it aside and focused instead on being grateful he still had a reflection - not that he would for long. His sixteenth birthday was approaching quickly and with it everything he wished he would never have to face. That was why he and Jonno were going out tonight. And why they'd gone out the night before, and were planning to go out as much as possible between now and Vlad's birthday. Jonno wanted them to spend as much time together as possible before Vlad became a full vampire and they had to work around that - if they even decided to continue their relationship after...

Vlad hadn't let himself think about that too much yet. At least, he'd _tried_ not to. Usually it wasn't too hard - Robin didn't like Jonno because his dad was a slayer and Robin was convinced Jonno was just trying to get close to Vlad to take out him and his family, so they didn't talk about him much beyond Robin's conspiracy theories. Unless Chloe was around. She always asked the hard questions. Vlad was grateful for that, even if he hated thinking about them. Someday soon, though, he and Jonno would have to discuss it.

But not yet. Until then..._I wonder what dad _would_ say,_ Vlad thought, licking his fingers and trying to fix his hair, all the while ignoring Zoltan's snickering in the background. "No, would be my guess," Vlad muttered in response to his own silent question. "A resounding 'no'."

"What was that, Master Vlad?" Zoltan asked.

Vlad didn't answer.

* * *

><p>Jonno hated living in a camper van with his father. He used to think it was fun - kind of like a never ending adventure - but now that he was fifteen it was all a bit cramped. He'd tried to suggest getting a house a few times, but his father had ways of avoiding questions. Ways that usually involved slaying lessons or insistences that Jonno get his homework done. Neither of which appealed to Jonno much anymore. Particularly the slaying.<p>

He wasn't exactly pro-vampire. Not quite. His experiences with Ingrid and the Count were enough to convince him that some Vampires (indeed, probably _most_) needed slaying. He just didn't think slaying while he was dating a vampire was entirely appropriate Vlad hadn't actually asked him to stop, Jonno'd done that on his own, and he honestly preferred the not-slaying lifestyle. It was much more restful.

When his dad wasn't insisting they go slaying together, anyway. Like he was now. "C'mon, Jonno," he wheedled, watching his son duck to see his reflection in the mirror. "It'll be like old times."

"Old times?" Jonno asked incredulously. "You mean all those times we never slayed any vampires?" He fixed his shirt, straightening it out and tucking it in. Except tucked in he needed a belt. So he untucked it. But now it was wrinkled. His father was still talking as he retucked his shirt and started digging around in his pile of clothes for a belt. He found one and tuned back in as his father finished, just in time to hear him say that tonight was the night, he could feel it.

_Can't, Dad,_ Jonno thought. _I've got a date. With Vladimir Dracula. Y'know, the Count's son? The Vampire?_ He didn't say it, he knew better, but thinking it gave him an odd sense of satisfaction that he tried to push aside - he wasn't dating Vlad to get back at his father and he wasn't going to let himself feel good about even thinking of rubbing it in Eric Van Helsing's face.

"What d'you say, Jonno?" Eric asked one final time.

Jonno shook his head. "Can't, dad," he said. "I'm going out." _With Vlad,_ he added in his head. _What d'you think of that?_ Except Jonno knew what he'd think and even as he brushed past his father and out the door, he could hear his father's voice in the back of his head saying "No, Jonno. You're not."

"That's what I thought," Jonno muttered, shutting the door behind him.

"What was that, son?" Eric called after him.

Jonno didn't answer.


End file.
